Acquisitions are a powerful corporate event to boost growth and build momentum in a business. They provide an opportunity to reset strategies and approaches, drive new operating models and restructure costs.
Successful acquirers view acquisitions as an integrated process starting with a deal thesis based on the overall strategy, going through due diligence and integration planning with a clear focus on building a detailed operating and financial plan, and ending with achieving synergies by linking post-merger integration (PMI) to day-to-day operations.
Our experience in over 125 acquisitions and integrations valued at more than 4 billion € confirms that the strategic fit and PMI is where the rubber meets the road.
But acquisitions are also complex and risky. More often than not the initial focus gets lost in deal fever and the opportunities, which underpinned the deal may never be realized.
Our approach to acquisition value creation is designed to mitigate that risk and ensure focus on achieving the deal rationale throughout the entire process.
We support acquisitive companies and investors
by supplementing their M&A capability with our IT industry specific know-how and experience in key deal activities:
Corporate strategy and acquisition strategy:
Develop a clearly strategy and an M&A plan that backs that strategy.
Market assessment and acquisition target search:
Develop a roster of potential acquisition targets based on criteria that link to your M&A strategy.
Pre-Due Diligence / Deal thesis check:
Lead or participate in initial target meetings to test strategic fit against and to develop an initial deal thesis that spells out how the deal will add value.
Strategic due diligence and Integration planning:
We have performed operations due diligence and post merger integrations on hundreds of IT companies and based on that experience we have developed a comprehensive, yet simple and effective methodology focused not only on quickly identifying areas where an acquirer can add value but also to translate these synergy potentials into operational and financial models and initial integration plans way before a transaction is consummated.
Equipped with this “straw-man”, an acquirer is able to set its own price – and to walk away if the price isn’t right.
Acquisition integration:
No two integrations are the same. In our experience, there are a few guiding principles that are key to full synergy realization: Focus, speed, permanent communication, and a rigorous follow-through on a long list of integration tasks, large and small.
We can team up with your integration team and bring tested tools and advice to the table to help you stay focused on the ultimate goal of your deal thesis.